Slide fasteners



y 1966 H. HANSEN 3,248,767

SLIDE FASTENERS Original Filed Sept. 18, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 qf 522:2? M2532: vV/ i 14/ 544 H. HANSEN SLIDE FASTENERS May 3, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Sept. 18, 1961 INVENTOR. BY $1 W ArTo Aw S H. HANSEN SLIDE FASTENERS May 3, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Sept. 18, 1961 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,248,767 SLIDE FASTENERS Harry Hansen, 14 Holfdingsvej, Valhy- Copenhagen, Denmark Original application Sept. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 138,832, now Patent No. 3,197,537, dated July 27, 1965. Divided and this application Jan. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 424,440 Claims priority, application Denmark, Nov. 8, 1960,

4,403 5 Claims. c1. 24-20513) The present application is a division of my prior application Serial No. 138,832, filed September 18, 1961, which matured as United States Patent 3,197,537, dated July 27, 1965.

This invention relates to a row of coupling links for slide fasteners consisting of a continuous filament bent into a twisted serpentine form with alternate loops having their closed ends directed in opposite directions, the loops in one direction forming the coupling links and having their flank portions lying close together, these loops being transversely disposed relative to the middle plane of the row, the loops in the other direction forming connections between the coupling links and having their flank portions spaced from one another, these loops extending in twisted positions from one side of the row to the other.

In such a row of coupling links, from another point of view, the said flank portions may be regarded as forming two series of ladder-like elements connected with each other through U-bends to provide the said loops.

It is an object of the invention to provide a row of coupling links of the type referred to in which the loops, or pairs of ladder-like elements, forming the individual coupling links, are substantially rigid both in the longitudinal and in the lateral direction of the row, while being shaped for reliable interengagement and being connected with each other through portions of great flexibility.

It is another object of the invention to provide a row of coupling links of the type referred to which may be manufactured in a simple manner so as to produce, in a continuous operation, all the departures from simple helical configuration necessary to obtain reliable interengagement of two such rows of coupling links as well as adequate flexibility of the structure as a whole.

With these and other objects in view, according to one aspect of the invention, a row of coupling links for slide fasteners is provided, which consists of a continuous filament bent into a twisted serpentine form with alternate loops having their closed ends directed in opposite directions, the loops in one direction forming the coupling links and having their flank portions lying close together, these loops being transversely disposed relative to the middle plane of the row, the loops in the other direction forming connections between the coupling links and having their flank portions spaced from one another, these loops extending in twisted positions from one side of the row to the other, the end portions of both sets of loops being flattened in the axial direction of the loops to form heads having a smaller thickness but a greater width than the filament.

According to another aspect of the invention, regarding said flank portions as series of ladder-like elements, a row of coupling links consists of a continuous filament having a basically helical configuration composed of a first and a second series of ladder-like elements disposed on opposite sides of a longitudinal median plane of the row of coupling links, each element of the first series being 3,248,767 Patented May 3, 1966 ice located directly opposite and in close proximity to a corresponding element of the second series, each element of the first series being connected at one end with the corresponding element of the second series through a U-bend located in a plane substantially at right angles to said median plane, and at its other end with the next following element of the second series through a U-bend located in a plane at an inclination to said median plane, each of said U bends being constructed with a widened head portion.

Further features and objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of one form of a row of coupling links according to the invention, and one way of making the said row of coupling links, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the essential parts of a machine that may be used for manufacturing a row of coupling links according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a section on an enlarged scale through two co-operatin-g gear wheels forming part of the machine, and also showing a filament being subjected to a first shaping operation by means of the said gear wheels,

FIG. 3 a cross section through a guideway forming part of the machine, and a zigzag shaped filament received therein,

FIG. 4 illustrates the guideway of FIG. 3, and a coiling jig in the form of a gear wheel mountedin front of the outlet end of the guideway, the whole being shown in side view and with section through the guideway,

FIG. 5 a perspective view of a fragment of a finished row of coupling links made by means of the machine illustrated in FIGURES 1-4,

FIGURE 6 is a side view of a single row of coupling links,

FIGURE 7 is a side view of two interengaging rows of coupling links,

FIGURE 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of one row of coupling links taken on line 88 of FIGURE 6, perpendicular to the median plane of the fastener, and

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view of one row of coupling links, taken on line 9-9 of FIGURE 6.

The row of coupling links herein referred to is made from a continuous filament, e.g., a circular cross section filament of superpolyamide or another suitable thermoplastic material. The configuration of the row of coupling links will best be understood by studying the shaping operations to which the filament is subjected in being transformed from a smooth continuous rectilinear element to a finished row of coupling links. These shaping operations will therefore first be described with reference to FIGURES 1-4.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a bobbin from which a continuous filament 2, e.g., a superpolyamide is drawn olf. Briefly stated, the filament 2 first passes between the gear wheels 3 and 4 in which it is pressed up into zigzag shape, and in this shape it proceeds to a flat guideway 5 in which it is longitudinally compressed in such a manner that thefiank portions of the zigzag loops will lie close together whereafter, at the outlet end of the guideway 5, the flank portions are pushed two by two into successive tooth spaces 'of a coiling jig in the form of a gear wheel 6.

The configuration of the gear 'wheels 3 and 4 is illustrated in detail in FIG, 2. From this figure it will be apparent that each of the gear wheels has substantially triangular teeth 7 and 8, respectively, with intervening triangular tooth spaces 9 and 10, respectively, it being observed, however, that the spaces of the teeth are rounded at 11 and 12, respectively, and the bottoms of the tooth spaces are similarly rounded at 13 and 14, respectively. The configuration and the mutual positions of the gear wheels are so selected that in the position of co-operation between a tooth 7 and 8, respectively, of one gear wheel and the corresponding'tooth space 10 and 9, respectively, of the other gear wheel, the distance between the apex of the tooth and the bottom of the tooth space is smaller than the distance between the co-operating tooth flanks of one and the other gear wheel respectively, the latter distance being substantially equal to the thickness of the filament. Consequently, when the filament 2 is fed forward between the gear wheels and is thus pressed up into zigzag shape, the end portions 15 and 16 at both ends of the flank portions 17 are flattened while the flank portions 17 are not subjected to any such deformation. The material that is displaced by the'flattening of the end portions 15 will partly flow out transversely of the plane of the zigzag line formed by the filament, and partly flow into pockets 18 and 19, respectively, extending laterally from the tooth spaces adjacent the bottoms thereof. The material flowing out transversely will form heads 20, FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, at both ends of the zigzag loops while the material flowing into the pockets 18 and 19 will form reinforcing shoulders 21.

From the gear wheels 3 and 4 the zigzag shaped filament passes through a guide tube 22 to the flat guideway which has an inner cross section of a configuration to receive the flat zigzag shaped filament with a small clearance, longitudinal projections 23 and 24 being provided in the middle to form guides for the flank portions while the height of the cross section on both sides of these projections is sufliciently great to receive the flattened and widened heads. In the top wall 25 of the guideway two openings 26 and 27 are provided through which revolving brushes 28 and 29 respectively engage the zigzag shaped filament so as to feed this forward in the passage by a brushing action. Both brushes 28 and 29 have circumferential speeds exceeding the speed at which the zigzag shaped filament leaves the gear wheels 3 and 4. Consequently, the brushes, while feeding forward the zigzag shaped filament, will at the same time compress the latter closely together in a two stage operation.

In this closely packed position the flank portions are caught by the teeth of a gear wheel 30 which projects through an opening 31 in the top wall 25 of the guideway 5 adjacent to the outlet end thereof. The teeth of the gear wheel 30 are sharp edged and are located at a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the centers of the cross sections of the closely packed flank portions. The gear wheel 30 serves to move successive pairs of flank portions lying close together into successive tooth spaces of the gear Wheel- 6, and for this purpose the gear wheel 30 is driven by means of a combined slip and spring clutch which is diagrammatically represented in FIG. 1 by three coupling discs, 32, 33 and 34, of which the coupling discs 32 and 33 are frictionally coupled to each other while the coupling discs 33 and 34 are coupled to each other by means of a circumferentially extending helical spring 35. A pin 36 mounted on the coupling disc 33 engages in a notch 37 of the coupling disc 34 so 'that the latter is rotatable within certain limits relative to the coupling disc 33 with consequent tensioning and relaxation of the spring 35. The coupling disc 32 forms the driving coupling part and is driven by means, not shown, at a speed of rotation higher than the speed of rotation of the gear wheel 30 required for introducing successive pairs of flank portions into the tooth spaces of the gear wheel 6 as these tooth spaces successively arrive in position in front of the outlet end of the guideway. When a tooth is present in front of the outlet end of the guideway, thus blocking this outlet end, the gear wheel 30 and consequently the coupling disc 34 are prevented from rotating, and the spring 35 will therefore first be tensioned until the pin 36 strikes the end wall of the notch 37, whereby the coupling disc 33, too, is prevented from rotating, whereafter the coupling disc 32 starts sliding relative to the coupling disc 33. As soon as a tooth space of the gear wheel 6 has arrived in position in front of the outlet end of the guideway, the blocking of the said outlet end ceases, and the frontmost two flank portions are now suddenly moved into the said tooth space under the influence of the feeding action of the gear wheel 30 in conjunction with their own spring force resulting from their being pressed close together. At the first moment of this movement of the flank portions into the tooth space, the spring 35 will cause the coupling disc 34 and thereby the gear wheel 30 to perform a sudden movement in the feeding direction whereby the introduction of the flank portions into the tooth space is accelerated, and at the same time the coupling disc 32 begins to drive the coupling disc 33 because the gear wheel 30 is no longer blocked. When the two flank portions have been introduced into the tooth space, this is not capable of receiving further flank portions and the feeding of the zigzag shaped filament is hereby again blocked so that the coupling disc 33 again tensions the spring 34 and is then itself blocked whereupon the coupling disc 32 again starts sliding relative to the coupling disc 33.

The tooth spaces of the gear wheel 6 have a width (as measured in the circumferential direction) substantially corresponding to the thickness of the flank portions, i.e., the diameter of the original filament, so that two flank portions lying close together will find a good support and guidance in the tooth space. The teeth have a length (as measured transversely of the gear wheel) somewhat greater than the distance between the flattened heads at one and the other end respectively of the flank portions. Hereby the flank portions are held in their longitudinal direction because the heads will overhang the lateral end faces of the tooth.

Owing to the continuous movement of the gear wheel 6 in conjunction with the introduction of successive pairs of flank portions into the tooth spaces, as these successively come into position in front of the outlet end of the flat guideway, each end portion of the zigzag filament connecting a flank portion present in one tooth space with a flank portion present in the next following tooth space will be caused to assume a twisted position around one lateral end face of the tooth of the gear wheel 6 separating the two tooth spaces considered. These twisted end portions will all be located at the same side of the gear wheel 6 while at the other side of the latter the two flank portions present in each tooth space are directly connected with each other through a flattened end portion 16.

In this manner a row of coupling links is formed which consists of loops having their flank portions lying close together and being transversely disposed relative to the middle plane of the row (as represented by a diametrical plane of the gear wheel 6) and being provided with flattened heads at one end while being connected at their other end through loops in the opposite direction, these loops extending in twisted positions relative to the middle plane of the row of coupling links and being likewise constructed with flattened heads.

The configuration of the finished row of coupling links is illustrated in FIG. 5.

Thus, from the above descriptions and the figures of drawing it will be readily seen that the row of coupling links for the novel slide fastener comprises a continuous filament 2 deformed to provide a ladder-like, basically helical, loop structure composed of a first and a second series of substantially straight ladder-like elements 17a and 17b disposed on opposite sides of a longitudinal median plane of the row of coupling links and extending substantially perpendicularly to a longitudinal transverse plane perpendicular to said median plane. The ends of said elements 17a and 17b located on one or the other side respectively of saidlongitudinal transverse plane will be referred to as their front and rear ends respectively. Each element 17a or 17b of either series is spaced from the next following elements 17a or 17b of the same series and is locted immediately alongside a corresponding element 17 b or 17a of the other series to form a pair of first and second elements, the front end of the first element 17a of each pair being connected with the front end of the second element of the same pair through a U-bend located in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the row. The rear end of the first element 17a of each pair is connected with the rear end of the second element 17b of the next following pair through a U-bend located in a plane at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the row. Each of said U-bends is flattened at its top 20a and 20b to protrude beyond the contour of the pair of elements as viewed in the longitudinal direction of said elements and is additionally deformed to provide shoulder portions 21 protruding laterally beyond the curved contour of the U-bend as viewed in a direction perpendicular to said U-bend.

The first mentioned U-bends 20a serve as heads for the engagement-with similar heads of an identical row of coupling links, while the last mentioned U-bends 20b serve -as resilient connections between the successive links formed by two of the elements 17a and 17b and the corresponding head 20a, and finally it may be stated that the shoulder portions 21 serve to reinforce the links at the position where they would otherwise have their Weakest points.

Preferably the row of coupling links referred to is made from a thermoplastic material such as superpolyamide and in such case the row of coupling links should preferably be stabilized in its shape by heating and subsequent cooling. This may be obtained by arranging heating means in suitable zones of the path of the filament through the machine while in other zones cooling by dissipation to the environment is permitted to take place. Hereby a non-uniform thermal expansion of different parts of the machine may occur, to which due regard has to be paid in the design and dimensioning of the machine. A particularly important point is to keep a very accurate and a very small distance between the outlet end of the flat guideway 5 and the teeth of the gear Wheel 6. As illustrated in FIG. 1, this may be obtained by arranging for the fiat passage to be urged against the gear wheel 6 under the influence of a spring 38.

I claim:

1. A row of coupling links for slide fasteners consisting of a continuous filament having a basically helical configuration composed of a first and a second series of substantially straight ladder-like elements, all being parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of a longitudinal median plane of the row of coupling links, each element of the first series being located directly opposite and immediately alongside of a corresponding element of the second series, each element of the first series being connected at one end with the corresponding element of the second series through a U-bend located in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the row, and at its other end with the next following element of the second series through a U bend located in a plane at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the row, each of said U bends being constructed with a widened head portion.

2. A row of coupling links for slide fasteners consisting of a continuous filament deformed to provide a first and a second series of substantially straight ladderlike elements, all being parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of a longitudinal median plane of the row of coupling links and all having, by definition, their front ends directed the same way and their rear ends the opposite way, each element of either series being spaced from the next following element of the same series at 'a distance slightly exceeding the thickness of the filament and beinglocated in substantially its full length immediately alongside a corresponding element of the other series to form a pair of first and second elements, the front end of the first element of each pair being connected with the front end of the second element of the same pair through a front U-bend located in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the row, the rear end of the first element of each pair being connected with the rear end of the second element of the next following pair through a rear Usbend located in 'a plane at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the row, each of said front and rear U-bends being constructed with a widened head portion.

3. A row of coupling links for slide fasteners consisting a continuous filament deformed to form a ladder like, basically helical loop structure composed of a first and a second series of substantially straight ladder-like elements all being parallel and being disposed on opposite sides of a longitudinal rnedianplane of the row of coupling links and extending substantially perpendicularly to a longitudinal thansverse plane perpendicular to said median plane, the ends of said elements located on one and the other side respectively of said longitudinal transverse plane being referred to as their front and rear ends respectively, each element of either series being spaced from the next following element of the same series and being located immediately alongside a corresponding element of the other series to form a pair of first and second elements, the front end of the first element of each pair'being connected with the frontend of the second element of the same pair through a U-bend located in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the row and flattened at its top to protrude beyond the contour of the pair of elements in the longitudinal direction of the row of coupling links, the rear end of the first element of each pair being connected with the rear end of the second element of the next following pair through a U-bend located in a plane at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the row and flattened at its top.

4. A row of coupling links as in claim 3 in which the U-bend connecting the front ends of each pair of elements is additionally deformed to provide shoulder portions protruding laterally beyond the curved contour of the U-bend.

5. A row of coupling links for slide fasteners consisting of a continuous filament deformed to form a ladder-like, basically helical loop structure composed of a first and a second series of substantially straight ladderlike elements, all being parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of a longitudinal median plane of the row of coupling links and extending substantially perpendicularly to a longitudinal transverse plane perpendicular to said median plane, the ends of said elements located on one and the other side respectively of said longitudinal transverse plane being referred to as their front and rear ends respectively, each element of either series being spaced from the next following element of the same series and being located immediately alongside a corresponding element of the other series to form a pair of first and second elements, the front end of the first element of each pair being connected with the front end of the second element of the same pair through a U-bend located in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the row, the rear end of the first element of each pair being connected with the rear end of the second element of the" next following pair through a U-bend located in a plane at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the row, each of said U-bends being flattened at it-s top to protrude beyond the contour of the pair of elements as viewed in the longitudinal direction of said elements and being additionally deformed to provide shoulder portions pro- '7 trudin'g laterally beyond the curved contour of the U- bend as viewed in a direction perpendicular to said U- bend.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,057,030 10/1962 Claus. 3,128,518 7 4/1964 Steing-rubner.

8 FOREIGN PATENTS 222,149 6/ 1959 Australia. 1,244,016 9/1960 France. 1,247,157 10/1960 France.

575,938 4/1958 Italy.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Examiner. 

1. A ROW OF COUPLING LINKS FOR SLIDE FASTENERS CONSISTING OF A CONTINUOUS FILAMENT HAVING A BASICALLY HELICAL CONFIGURATION COMPOSED OF A FIRST AND A SECOND SERIES OF SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGH LADDER-LIKE ELEMENTS, ALL BEING PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND BEING DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF A LONGITUDINAL MEDIAN PLANE OF THE ROW OF COUPLING LINKS, EACH ELEMENT OF THE FIRST SERIES BEING LOCATED DIRECTLY OPPOSITE AND IMMEDIATELY ALONGSIDE OF A CORRESPONDING ELEMENT OF THE SECOND SERIES, EACH ELEMENT OF THE FIRST SERIES BEING CONNECTED AT ONE END WITH THE CORRESPONDING ELEMENT OF THE SECOND SERIES THROUGH A U-BEND LOCATED IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE ROW, AND AT ITS OTHER END WITH THE NEXT FOLLOWING ELEMENT OF THE SECOND SERIES THROUGH A U-BEND LOCATED IN A PLANE AT AN INCLINATION TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE ROW, EACH OF SAID U-BENDS BEING CONSTRUCTED WITH A WIDENED HEAD PORTION. 